Flower Power

THE CONCEPT
People leave a trace. The concept is a meadow full of glowing tall grass underwater sea grass bed or perhaps freshly grown spring meadow . It consists of about 100 separate pieces, distributed in a nonuniform way, like flowers on a meadow. Movement excites them, makes them glow. People going through the installation leave a light trail behind them, as they interact with the pieces on the way. The trail fades eventually, leaving the meadow free for other people to leave their trails. Wind also excites the structure and makes the meadow glow. Or is it perhaps a ghost?

Fascination with natural light. This work is inspired by the bioluminescent bay in Puerto Rico. It is populated by micro-organism (the dinoflagellate Pyrodinium bahamense) which glow whenever the water is disturbed, leaving a trail of neon blue light. Now this spectacular phenomenon attracts many tourists, but was centuries ago believed to be the work of the devil. Bioluminescence is fascinating and puzzling, but as scientists and technologists become better with processing chemicals and integrating them into different materials, it has the potential to save lives and electricity. Imagine roads that are charged during the day with sunlight and are illuminated at night without using human generated energy.

THE VISITOR EXPERIENCE Can you see where others have been before you? As visitor you walk through a field of plant-like structures, that grow straight from the grass. As one walks through and inadvertently touches the structures, they light up creating a trail of phosphorescent light. Normally one looks forward, but here you have to stop and look back, at the places where you have been. Everybody leaves a trail. It is not often that we think about it. Within minutes the glow fades away and new visitors can leave their own trail. Can you see where others have been before you? Children will also enjoy running through the installation and immediately see the results of their interaction.